THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said it has started verifying a report that the poll body’s servers have been hacked and vital data has been breached, and is set to release its findings this week.
“Before this week ends, we can already release the final report regarding this alleged hacking and data breach,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said in a radio interview.
“We have already started this morning (Tuesday) the meetings with all the different units to determine what transpired,” he added.
While saying validation is needed, Jimenez continued to express doubt over the claims made in a report of Manila Bulletin about the alleged hacking.
“We really need to validate this because, if the report is wrong, there will be someone held accountable since they released a report without any verification,” he said.
Jimenez cited as an example a claim in the report that usernames and PINs of vote-counting machines have been compromised. He said the information still does not exist simply because the configuration files which include usernames and PINs have not yet been completed.
“We are doubting the report since it claimed that the username and PINs were hacked.
However, we have not yet started the configuration of these usernames and PINs,” he said.
For now, Jimenez said, what they are most concerned about is the effect of the unverified report on the credibility of the elections.
“That is actually what worries us. We know this will be the reaction of the people. When you say Comelec data breach, people will naturally be concerned,” said Jimenez.
The Manila Bulletin’s Technews team on Monday released the report saying the Comelec server has been hacked but without verification from the poll body. The report immediately went viral as the topic “#ComelecHacked” and “Protect Our Vote” immediately trended on social media.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the National Bureau of Investigation is ready to assist in any hacking investigation.
“We’ll let the Comelec finish its own internal probe.If a wider investigation is found necessary and NBI assistance would be useful, we’d gladly oblige,” he said.
Presidential aspirant Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the reported hacking will cast doubt on the integrity of the results of the May 9 elections.
“Our elections on May 9 could not have come at a more critical time. This is not just about the individual candidates, but about upholding our democracy which, if the hacking turns out to be true, is gravely being threatened,” Lacson said in a statement.
Lacson also said that while only the Comelec and the Department of Information and Communications Technology can officially verify such report, his team has tapped a Comelec-accredited composite cybersecurity team from the Partido Reporma, National Unity Party, and Nationalist People’s Coalition to “exert whatever effort to get initial information.”
“That said, the Comelec should clarify the veracity of the hacking incident and be forthright with its findings. More importantly, it should be open to letting experts and related stakeholders help strengthen the security system, including our cybersecurity experts and those of other aspirants. Only through transparency and accountability can we guarantee the integrity of the upcoming elections,” he added. — With Ashzel Hachero, Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
